3KCBWDAY6 - Improving your skillset

How far down the road to learning your craft do you believe yourself to be? Are you comfortable with what you know or are you always striving to learn new skills and add to your knowledge base? Take a look at a few knitting or crochet books and have a look at some of the skills mentioned in the patterns. Can you start your amigurumi pieces with a magic circle, have you ever tried double knitting, how's your intarsia? If you are feeling brave, make a list of some of the skills which you have not yet tried but would like to have a go at, and perhaps even set yourself a deadline of when you'd like to have tried them by.


And away we go with today's topic.


I am a crocheter, I think I can crochet pretty much anything I set my mind too.  The only thing is I like simple, so I don't really challenge myself all that much.   I learned to crochet from a babysitting when I was 11 and as I got a bit older branched out to my first baby blanket.  Don't recall with I chose this pattern to do and since I still have the blanket to this day, I know I didn't make it for anybody, but I did learn from this.  I learned how important it is to count your stitches!!  The sides are quite interesting needless to say!

Now when I was taking a crafting class in high school, my teacher let me choose my own project and I again chose a ripple.  I picked out a rainbow of yarns (literally a rainbow, this was 1979 after all) and counted ever single stitch is that blanket, without fail!  I worked on this for a while, but it really was a huge monster and I think I ran out of yarn at one point.  Anyway when my oldest son was born in 1989 I found it again and gave it a much quicker finish then I had originally intended for it and was able to use it for his twin race car bed!  It's still being used today, I pulled it off the couch for the picture taking in fact.  It's a great watching TV blanket.  So I definitely improved my skills with this blanket.  

Max checked out what I'm doing

Would have been ginormuous had I completed it!

I have of course done many other things since these 2 blankets and as we do, we learn with each item. I have learned over the last few months that I can work without a set pattern and that makes me happy.  I think up next is going to be making clothing items.  I have always stuck with accessories and household items and now it's time to venture out of my comfort zone!  I have been looking at Doris Chan patterns over the last few days and think I will start there! 


I have also read so many new blogs this past week and have really enjoyed seeing everyone's work!  I am in a serious need to learn knitting, I really want to make socks! 


So there it is, out there in the universe, clothing items and knitting....the things I shall be learning!  Now I better get this striped scarf done for Katlyn so I can get to learning! 


More blog reading on today's topic can be found by typing in the code 3KCBWDAY6 onto Google.


Listening to: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones